


A Matter Of Preference

by tiger_in_the_flightdeck



Series: The Steamer Trunk Case Files [4]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Bisexuality, Boarding School, F/M, First Time, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Intercrural Sex, M/M, POV First Person, Pure Smut, Rimming, Sexual Confusion, Teenage Awkwardness, Teenlock, Top!Watson, sex with the maid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-18
Updated: 2013-10-18
Packaged: 2017-12-29 19:39:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1009258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiger_in_the_flightdeck/pseuds/tiger_in_the_flightdeck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After The Naval Treaty, Watson responds to Holmes’ teasing by explaining his past relationship with Percy Phelps. As a sixteen-year-old student at a boy’s prep school, he is confused as to why he is just attracted to some of his fellow classmates, as he is to maids and shopkeeper’s daughters. His confusion grows as he begins to explore sex with both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Matter Of Preference

"You didn’t get any rest at all last night."

I glanced up from Holmes’ hand, which I was cleaning and wrapping in a fresh bandage. Phelps had tugged it off when he was excitedly grasping and kissing it.

"Not much, no." I massaged his fingers and tested their strength to make sure he hadn’t taken any nerve damage. He flexed them around my wrist before linking them with my own. "Phelps refused to settle down. I swear I was ready to slip a dash of brandy into his milk just to get him to stop talking."

Holmes’ shoulders jiggled in a silent laugh then he rose from his seat to perch on my knee. With his uninjured hand, he reached up to run his finger under my tired eyes. “My poor man. I suppose it would have been easier to tire him out in other ways.”

"I have no idea what you’re talking about, my dear." I murmured, straightening in my seat.

He rolled his eyes, and squirmed about until he was able to slot his slender hips between my legs. “You were lovers. That much is obvious.” He flapped his hand dismissively. “I am not jealous. I can see at a glance that you didn’t sleep with him last night.” "Nor would I have done so." I muttered. "I am faithful to you."

Holmes stared at me through his eyelashes with his lips pursed.

"Fine. I admit. We were lovers. For a time. When we were boys."

"That is why you were shocked to learn he had taken up with a woman."

"Yes. I had believed him to be like you, with no interest in the sex. He certainly had none when we knew each other. He had a great deal of interest in the other boys at school."

"Including you." Holmes snuggled closer to me, and kissed the side of my neck. "Tell me?"

I was pleased to learn that he was far from jealous. I have had lovers in the past that were bitterly jealous of their antecedents, and for a man with no small number of conquests, it could get rather tiresome. His self-conscious nature, coupled with a neglected childhood meant that Holmes often needed reassurance of my love, but never of my fidelity. If he wanted to know about my experiences with Percy Phelps, I was more than happy to share them.

"After my father had died, Harry and I returned from Australia to live with our aunt. I was fourteen, while Harry was seventeen. My brother took the remainder of the school term off, but I was enrolled at the preparatory school in town. Because my education had been mostly through nurses and tutors, I was put back two years.

"It wasn’t difficult to immerse myself into the school. It had an excellent rugby team, and I also joined the cricket and swim teams. Stop laughing. I like sport." Holmes stroked the side of my neck and grinned. “I’m sorry, carry on.”

"I made friends more easily back then. Not close ones, mind you, but friends. A year passed, and I was advanced a year when my tests showed that I could move with the boys my age. There were, however, a few lads that were advanced even further. Most notably, Percy.

"He was well liked by some, hated by others. He was small and slight, and brilliant. While I was running around with a rugby ball, he was stooped over his work books. We didn’t see much of each other, save for some rough housing during breaks. I was sixteen, the first time I saw him with another boy.

"I was coming back from the chapel where I had left my notebook, late one evening. Trotting along the hall to my room, I saw a pair of figures in a small nook where two points of the wall met in a badly constructed join. I remember some of my friends used to complain about the lack of girls at the school, because that spot offered the perfect place to sneak kisses. It seems that they were right. Two boys were mostly concealed in the dark there, one pinned to the wall while the other pawed at him.

“‘Hey!’ I whispered fiercely and grabbed the taller, older boy and pulled him off. I had never seen boys kissing before, and thought that the older one was hurting the other. When he was revealed, I saw that it had been Percy pushed up against the wall. ‘Get off of him!’

"I don’t really remember much of what happened after that. The older boy punched me, and everything got a little blurred from there. Percy helped me back to my room, chuckling all the way. He cleaned up my bloodied nose and asked to know why I had interfered.

“‘I thought he was attacking you.’ I muttered, rather sulkily. I felt awkward and uncomfortable with him sitting so close to me. His hand was on my thigh while he swabbed at my nose, and his face was only a few inches from mine. I had wrestled with boys before, been much closer to them than this, but it still felt different.

“‘No, not attacking.’ Percy looked up at me, a small smile on his bruised lips. ‘Just kissing, John.’ He chuckled quietly and tossed my handkerchief into the laundry hamper. ‘It’s going to take me weeks to get him to even look at me again, let alone kiss me. I had just gotten him to kiss the way I like.’

"I must have looked scandalized, because he covered his mouth to smother a high giggle. I scowled, and opened my mouth to tell him to hush, but he stopped on his own and pressed his lips to mine. I reached up to his shoulders, thinking to push him away. Instead, I curled my hands around them and tugged him closer while returning the kiss. It really felt no different from kissing young women, which I had done plenty of times before and knew I enjoyed.

"When Percy pulled away, he was grinning. ‘Oh, I don’t even need to teach you.’ I grabbed my pillow, and smacked him in the head with it to shut him up.

"The next few weeks, I barely saw him outside of lessons. I was getting frustrated and confused. Whenever I looked at my friends and teammates, I felt like I was doing something shameful. If they knew I was looking at them like that, I was sure I would end up with another bloodied nose. After all, we weren’t even allowed to read certain Greek poems or stories. If even reading about it would get us in trouble, what would happen if I got caught looking? Or, god forbid, acting on it?

"Christmas vacation came round, and I went back to stay at my aunt’s house. Harry was visiting as well. He had taken an apprenticeship at a law clerk’s office, and had started courting his employer’s niece. During his visit, he brought her. She had her maid as a chaperone with her, a young Welsh woman of about nineteen or twenty. When I looked at her, I wondered how I could possibly have wanted to kiss Percy. She was beautiful and passionate. By the second day, I had her against a wall with my trousers around my thighs and her skirts around her waist. It was wonderful, and wet, and snug. I had never done something like that before, but it happened every day for my entire visit, often twice. When I was with her, I wasn’t thinking of anyone else. She had soft little breasts, and a deliciously tight cunt. If I had been older, I probably would have married her in my mindless passion. I only found out later that she had been married already, to a hostler at her mistress’ estate.

"When the vacation was over, Harry was engaged, and I was exhausted and ready to return to school. Three weeks had left me worn out and I felt like I could sleep for a month. My first two days back in classes, I was pulled to the front half a dozen times to receive lashes on my hands for not paying attention to my lessons.

"I had thought I had gotten over the silliness with Percy, until about two weeks after I got back, when I needed to ask him for some trigonometry notes. He was alone in his room, his roommate at his music lessons. ‘Come in, John. Did you have a good Christmas?’ His hair was wet, so I assume he had been in the baths not long before I arrived, since he didn’t know how to swim.

"My cheeks went red, and he giggled. ‘Yes, it was very good. I got to visit with my brother. I got mainly books as gifts, which I suppose is good this year. I think I’m past the age of getting toy boats and cricket bats.’

“‘You’re upset about the cricket bat, aren’t you?’

“‘A bit, yes. Mine is starting to splinter. I’ll need a new one by spring, anyway. That’s not what I’m here for, though.’ Before I could explain that I was looking for his notes, he crowded me back against his door, looping his arms around my neck and kissing me. ‘I’m… I’m not here for that, either.’ My cheeks flushed hotter when my voice came out in a strangled, broken squeak.

"Percy wrapped his hands into the lapels of my jacket, and drew me deeper into the room until we tumbled down onto his bed. ‘So? You’re here now John, so we may as well continue.’ I couldn’t even think of a sort of protest, before he was pushing my jacket off my shoulders.

“‘You’re so shy with everyone else.’ I mumbled, rising up onto my knees to get rid of my jacket and cap. He was stretched out on his bed, undoing the buttons of his shirt while shrugging.

“‘I don’t much like anyone else.’ he explained, sitting up to take off his shirt. With just a few kisses, I was already starting to get hard, and Percy obviously noticed. He cupped me through the front of my trousers, squeezing gently then working them open. My prick bobbed free and my friend took it in his hands with a clumsy caress. I suspected from the look of surprise on his face, and his slack lips, that his play with the other boys had never led this far.

"It felt the same as with the maid. His hands were soft and almost delicate. Not girlish, as they were quite larger than my own, but they moved with the same quick strokes. In fact, he seemed more skilled at it after a few minutes of practice than the maid did. Perhaps he was mimicking the own motions he used on himself, but soon enough I was fully hard and breathing heavily.

"Percy pulled me down on top of him after he shed his trousers. His cock was small and curved, lying more to the side than straight towards his navel. I of course wondered if there was something wrong with mine, or with his, that they looked so different. But when they slid together, nothing felt wrong about it. His hands went to my backside and his legs wrapped around my waist. His arse lifted off the bed, and my cock slotted down between its cheeks. It was round and plump and a little soft. ‘What do I do?’ I asked, holding myself up on one hand to look down between us.

"Pushing me off, Percy twisted and rolled, turning over onto his front with his legs spread. Between his arse cheeks I could just see his small hole. He reached under himself and positioned his cock so he could roll his hips down, rutting into the mattress. ‘I can usually put at least two fingers in, with just some saliva.’ he explained, propped up on his elbows to look at me.

“‘I’m not going to spit on you!’ I protested. I was kneeling between his legs, and my prick was starting to flag in my nervousness. Kneading my fingers into the mounds of his rump, I held them apart. He was nearly hairless, and clean. I was curious whether a boy would be as responsive as the maid had been to my tongue, so I leant in and lapped at the hole. Percy yelped in surprise and bucked under me. Unsure whether he was angry or not, I pulled back, only to have him demand that I do that again.

"He tasted vastly different from the woman, but it wasn’t unpleasant. When I had worked up a fair amount of saliva, and could see that he was shining with it, I took myself in hand. A few twists of my wrist, and I was hard again so I huddled up as close as I could get between his thighs. I leant over him, with my arm outstretched to hold me up, and pressed my hips forward.

"Nothing happened. I couldn’t push into him. I used my hand to hold his cheeks apart and pressed a little harder.

“‘Stop! John, stop.’ Percy buried his face into his pillow and groaned. ‘You’re bigger than my fingers.’

"I babbled out some frantic apologies and moved to get off of him, but he reached back to grab my arm. ‘It’s all right, John.’ he laughed shakily. He rocked from side to side, lifting his hips slightly until he had enough space to slide one of his cushions under them. Settling down on it, he rolled his hips and moaned. I still felt like the worst kind of ass; his little hole was red from me trying to force my way into it. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’ I insisted, stroking his legs and kissing the small of his back.

"Percy hugged a second cushion to his chest and smiled at me. His hips were still moving, and I thought he might simply finish himself off using his pillow. I admit, just watching was making my cock jump in my hand. After a short time of this, he nodded as if coming to a decision, and beckoned for me. ‘I know you’ve done this with girls.’ He slipped his hand between his thighs and carefully drew his bollocks forward. ‘Put yourself between my legs, and pretend it’s a cunt.’

"I frowned, but settled behind him. I caressed his rump and his legs, and up over his back. I didn’t want to pretend he was a woman. It felt wrong. I knew I was attracted to the parts of him that made him male, and even though I knew _that_ was supposed to be wrong, I didn’t want to confuse or frustrate myself even further. When I thrust myself into the warm snug space made by the tops of his thighs, I groaned his name. I slid my hands forward to run my fingers through his short hair. He arched his spine when I did that, so I scraped my nails over his scalp and tugged his hair lightly.

"Each time I rocked my hips forward, it ground his down onto his pillow. His legs were slender enough that when I bought our bodies together, I could feel the head of my prick rubbing along the underside of his. When I asked him if he wanted me to touch it, he shook his head and bit down on the pillow to muffle a moan. I was confused for a moment before I remembered where we were. The walls in the school were thin enough that you could easily hear your neighbour’s conversations. Bad enough that the bed was creaking each time we moved, but if someone were to hear our voices, we would be expelled.

"That risk of being caught out had me almost as excited as the feeling of Percy’s legs tightening and flexing around me. I nipped at my lips to try to keep quiet, but I took his hips in my hands, thrusting in harder. Using his thighs was a relief, as I didn’t need to hold back. I was fucking him as hard as I had done with the woman before, and there was no worry about bruising anything more than his hips where my fingers were digging in. And he seemed to love it as much as I did. It wasn’t long before he was twisting and shaking under me. ‘John, I’m getting close.’ he warned before clapping his hand over his mouth. He made desperate, kittenish little noises and squeezed his legs closed around me. I felt his whole body shudder. It was held tense, so I petted and crooned to him until he sagged against his mattress with a moan.

"I stretched myself out on his back and pumped my hips a few more times. I could feel the wet mess he had made of his pillow, and it was starting to coat the end of my cock. Swearing, I hid my face between Percy’s shoulder blades and wrapped my arm around his chest to hold him close. My orgasm was a bit slower, but no less intense. I dug my feet into the mattress to get a better purchase, and bucked against him. My mettle coated the insides of his thighs, and spattered on the pillow as well.

"For a long while, I simply held him there like that, kissing across his shoulders and the back of his neck. ‘You’re heavy, John.’ he laughed after we started to doze off, and elbowed me in the side until I rolled off. The semen was drying and turning sticky, and my half hard cock was lying lazily along my thigh. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes and groaned. The bed was barely big enough for the two of us lying side by side, so Percy squirmed and shifted until he was mostly on top of me, with his head tucked into the side of my neck.

"We kissed and held each other for a time, chatting quietly about the scholarship that he had just won and his plans to attend Cambridge in the autumn and the old treaty he was translating on a whim. I explained my decision to attend the University of London, to obtain my medical degree. Percy snickered, saying that he had expected me to get through life playing sport. Chuffed, I swatted his hip and told him I could easily do both. Outside, the bell rang, warning us that we had half an hour to be ready for dinner.

"There were no passionate promises or demands as we dressed, like there had been with the maid. We laughed quietly, jostling each other and calling each other names. ‘You bit my back, you big brute.’ ‘At least I don’t squirm like a tadpole.’ It was comfortable, and relaxed, and I found myself wondering if this was always what it was like with boys. On our way down to the formal hall, we bumped each other with our hips and pinched each other while giggling. In the hall we were separated, Percy going off to sit with the other boys in the senior class, while I went to find my friends. I was ravenous, and ate three rolls and an apple before dinner was even brought out. When one of my classmates asked what the matter was, I found it easy to lie and say that I had been out for a run after being cooped up indoors all day. They accepted the excuse, and I imagine they thought it explained my still flushed cheeks.

"Percy and I didn’t exactly become friends after that. We didn’t have much in common, save for our interest in learning, and our attraction to men. We saw each other often, though. Sometimes just to talk, but other times we picked up where we had left off. We learnt how to properly have sex, and it was a wonder that we saw daylight at all that week. But when I walked past his door, and heard him inside with another boy, I wasn’t jealous. And he frequently teased me about the reputation I had growing of tumbling in and out of the beds of different maids and shopkeeper’s daughters."

When I finished my story, I looked up at Holmes through my lashes to see how he had taken it. “After him, I didn’t sleep with another boy until I entered medical school. It was a young man, training to be an orderly. I had thought perhaps Percy was an isolated incident. By the time I was fucking Thomas nearly every night, I came to accept that I would never be able to settle on a preference between men and women.” I smoothed my hand over his narrow waist and offered him a small smile. “Now, it doesn’t matter in the least to me.”

Holmes stared at me for a time before standing up and shedding his dressing gown to the floor.

I know that he is conscious of his appearance, and finds himself odd looking, but for me there would never be anyone- man or woman- that will ever rival him in beauty. His limbs were long, and whipcord lean, mottled in places with scars from burns or knives or his own disregard for his own wellbeing while working. The hair that nested around his cock was tightly curled and neatly trimmed into a womanly vee, with only a few strands traveling up to lead a path to his navel. Holmes’ skin was pale, even with the faint flush to his cheeks from the day spent in the country air. But it was his eyes, his brilliant soft grey eyes that looked at me with wonder and fascination that I found most beautiful. They were the first thing that drew me to him when we met in that lab, glittering fiercely in his excitement over cracking a difficult problem.

He knelt on the chair with his legs on either side of my lap and fingered open the buttons of my trousers. His kisses were almost chaste as he caressed his thin hand along the length of my erection. Holmes didn’t speak while he worked, but held my gaze with his own. His eyes never wavered from mine even as he wrapped his fingers around as much of both of us as he could, and pumped. My hands went into his hair, messing up his primly combed style, and dragged him down for a kiss.

I was still fully clothed, with just my trousers open, and Holmes was naked save for the rings on his hand. A sparkle loving raven was my Holmes, and his hands displayed that. I could feel the gold band on his right hand that had been a gift from an old client. A silver and amethyst bangle lay on his wrist, and it clinked against my buttons each time he moved. It was the band on his left hand, the one holding the side of my neck, which had come from me. Given to him scant hours before my wedding in a back room of the church while whispering vows into his ear, the band was dark silver with engravings on the inside. It was similar enough to my own to comfort us both, but not so matching as to raise eyebrows.

I turned my head and kissed the inside of his wrist, nipping down on the skin. “I love you.”

Holmes didn’t reply, but let out a soft sigh of pleasure, moving his hand more quickly.

When he worked us to completion, it was slow and languid. The actions of two men who have all the time in the world, and know one another completely. I was not expected back at my practice until the next day, and most likely wouldn’t be returning home that night. We kissed and moved and caressed in well remembered ways. Holmes nibbled the spot on the side of my neck which he knew would always make me shudder. I dragged my nails along the outside of his thighs, earning the expected gasp.

Women may be just as much of an appeal to me as men, but no one will ever fill me with as much love and devotion and outright need, as Sherlock Holmes.


End file.
